Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.
By Nathan Parcells
To me, one of the most exciting trends in tech is the way the cost of doing a startup continues to plummet.
Older companies like Apple and Google may have started in garages but both were totally different animals from the lean startup of today. Today’s companies start in coffee shops not garages because there is no need for extra space. The rise of the desktop and the internet may have given entrepreneurs easy access to millions of users, but platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Twilio, and others mean that not only do new startups already have an audience of millions, but someone has already built their marketing and distribution channels. Even a few years ago it would be unimaginable for a developer to code for a weekend and have a product on the market – but now this is done regularly, all over the world at Startup Weekend.
In 2011 the entry fee is going to drop even lower as cloud based operating systems are built for TV, tablet computers and more. The rise of the app store perfectly complements this trend, offering a premier distribution channel for lean entrepreneurs — but even more importantly the app store is now an integral way to organize what’s out there as the entry fee drops and the internet gets noisier.
The Rise of the App Store: Yesterday saw news of Microsoft challenging apple for the rights to the term App Store. Win or lose the copyright battle for this specific term, apps are the meat and potatoes of the lean startup world and the battle for distribution will be a key one in 2011. Apps mean less need for distribution partners, less need for a business team — just develop, design and go.
The app store model is already disrupting the tech community and is a big reason why designers are such a hot commodity right now. This skill set is replacing many of the jobs previously held by marketers. If the product looks good, solves a need, and can be found in the app store, users will sign up and use it.
Granted the app stores themselves have their own marketing and sales barriers, but they are much different from how these skills were utilized in previous distribution channels.
With new cloud based OS systems coming (or already here) for TV, tablets, and other platforms, lean companies will be able to bring new apps to just about everything you use. Blue tooth enabled cars may open an app store for better driving apps in the not too distant future – it is exciting to think about what happens when we open our previously closed products to the minds of the entrepreneurial community.
The App Stores Choose the Rules:
While the rise of the app store may seem like it empowers any developer to have a clean shot at creating a world changing product it is not a totally free party. As app stores help us to organize the noise of what’s out there, they also get to pick the rules: whether it us who gets to join, what you need to look like, or what it takes to be seen – they are they are throwing the party and they get to pick the rules.
This is why for me the most exciting trend to watch in 2011 is who is building these app stores, and whose party do people want to be a part of. Certainly the debate has already begun with questions of Android or Apple – but as app stores start cropping up in new markets these questions will become all the more important.
The internet was a unique phenomenon for a myriad of reasons, but a big one is that it was never privatized allowing a it to be an open platform for businesses to compete and grow on top of. New changes like social connectivity and mobile distribution are not in the same boat and as building on these private channels becomes the norm in a depth of new industries, new questions of what kind of party are we at keep surfacing – 2011 will be a great year to learn more.
